August 10, 2021
Arlington National Cemetery is located on the west bank of the Potomac River, across from our nation's capitol.
The hallowed ground serves as the final resting place for two presidents, Supreme Court justices, astronauts and other public servants, including more than 400,000 military personnel, veterans and their immediate families. This national landmark is the country’s largest and most important military cemetery. Still an active burial ground, it conducts over 25 funerals each weekday.
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On March 11, 1930, President William Howard Taft became the first president buried in Arlington National Cemetery. |
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John F. Kennedy made his first formal visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day, November 11, 1961, to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown. He was buried there on November 25, 1963. The grave was placed so that it had a view of the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument, and was aligned with them. |
As the number of casualties climbed during the Civil War, the federal government needed additional cemetery space to inter the dead. To meet this demand, 200 acres of the plantation was set aside as a cemetery. In May 1864, Private William Christman was the first military casualty to be buried in the newly created graveyard. The following month, the War Department designated the space as a national cemetery. After the war, George Washington Custis Lee sued the federal government for return of the land, which he argued had been seized illegally. In 1882, the Supreme Court ruled in his favor and the federal government paid Lee $150,000 for the property, which is equivalent to $3.2 million today.
The Cemetery is divided into 70 sections. Section 60, in the southeast part of the cemetery, is the burial ground for military personnel killed in the “war on terror” since 2001.
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On May 27, 2007 – Memorial Day – Mary McHugh mourns her dead fiancé, Sgt. James Regan, in Arlington National Cemetery's Section 60. Regan had been killed by an IED explosion in Iraq. |
Section 21, is known as the Nurses Section. Another section is Chaplains Hill.
In 1901, Confederate soldiers buried at various locations within Arlington were reinterred in a Confederate section that was authorized by Congress in 1900. More than 3,800 formerly enslaved people, called “Contrabands” during the Civil War, are buried in Section 27. Their headstones are designated with the word “Citizen.”
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| Section 27, the resting place of former slaves. |
March 4, 1921, the United States Congress approved the burial of an unidentified American serviceman from World War I. That story continues tomorrow.
👍 A federal judge ruled Sunday in favor of Norwegian Cruise Lines, allowing them to require passengers to show proof of vaccination in defiance of Florida’s vaccine passport ban. US District Judge Kathleen Williams granted the cruise line a preliminary injunction, temporarily blocking enforcement of the ban, concluding NCL would likely win in its argument that the ban infringes upon the company’s constitutional rights. In the 59-page ruling, she said Florida failed “to provide a valid evidentiary, factual, or legal predicate” for the vaccine passport ban and that the law could negatively impact public health. The ruling represents a major blow to Governor Ron DeSantis’ efforts to stop vaccine mandates in the state of Florida, which currently has one of the worst COVID-19 surges in the US.
👎 More than a year after George Floyd’s death sparked a failed push to abolish the Minneapolis Police Department, activists and several City Council members are trying again, with a well-funded initiative that would ask voters in November whether the department should be dismantled. In its place would be a public safety department that employs a “comprehensive public health approach” and licensed peace officers “if necessary.” More than 30 local groups have gathered 20,000 signatures to get the measure on the ballot and have raised about $1 million, including $500,000 from Open Society Policy Center, which has ties to billionaire George Soros.
Opponents also say the ballot question doesn’t guarantee that a new public safety department would have police officers at all. Instead, it says officers would be included “if necessary to fulfill the department’s duties.” Bill Rodriguez, co-founder of Operation Safety Now, says, “The amendment doesn’t say there will be a police force – it says there could be, maybe, if necessary.” City officials plan to highlight with an explanatory note in November. Activists are trying to block such a note, arguing that the city is improperly trying to influence voters.
Personal: I am immediately suspicious of anything George Soros is funding.
👉 Some signs to smile about:
👉 Today’s close, “Whew! I Mean, Thank You!” is from The Story Devotional, by Zondervan.
“God remembered Noah and he sent a wind over the earth. The water receded steadily. The ark came to rest. Then God said to Noah, ‘Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.’ So Noah came out. All the animals came out of the ark. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord” (Genesis 8:1, 3-4, 15-16, 18-20).
Noah and his family spent a week on the ark before the rain began (Genesis 7:4). Then came forty days and forty nights of rain (v. 12), and the resulting flood lasted for a hundred and fifty days (v. 24). For another one hundred and fifty days the water steadily receded (8:3). After forty days, Noah sent a raven and then a dove for any sign that the earth was dry. Seven days later the dove went out again and this time returned with an olive leaf. Then God spoke: “Come out of the ark.”
What would your reaction have been? “Whew!” “Glad that’s over!” “I never want to visit a zoo as long as I live!” Noah’s reaction was none of those. He built an altar, worshiped the Lord, and thanked him for his faithfulness. A good example for all of us.
May we react to God’s faithfulness not just with relief but with rejoicing!
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